You're Beautiful
by cartoonheart94
Summary: Years after the war, Draco is still haunted. Not by the war, but by a someone whom he couldn't seem to get out of his head. And when by chance they meet, will he be able to tell her, and if he does, will Hermione be able to accept him? A Dramione one shot, even though based on a song, is not officially a song fic.


YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL

The street was unusually busy as Draco Malfoy came out of Gringotts; he had just been from confirming a large deposit that had come in from Brazil the previous night. A year after the war, Draco decided to leave Britain to begin training as a Healer in India, now seven years later, Malfoy had become a name that was known in the muggle world as much as it was known in the magical realm. Malfoy Pharmaceutical Company was amongst the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world and at 25, Draco Malfoy was the most eligible bachelor in the whole of Britain, featured in both magical and muggle magazines alike, he had become the ultimate fantasy of thousands of girls and the envy of many men.

Casually walking into the ministry building so he could confirm his arrival from Brazil, Draco noticed a lot of people he once went to Hogwarts with, some looked up and smiled at him, and others decided to pretend he was not there. Draco was used to such treatment, and he did not blame those that still hated him, he was after all, once a Death eater.

He turned a corner and walked into the Department of Travel and Registration where he was greeted by a blonde lady with breasts the size of Quaffles, the lady raised her face and Draco immediately recognised her as Lavender Brown. Lavender flashed him a bright smile, obviously happy to see him, "Good Morning Mr Malfoy."

"Goodmorning Lavender," he replied politely.

"How may I help you today?" she asked, "Is it the usual?"

Draco nodded.

"Excellent!" she clapped her hands together, then, with a wave of her wand, a file emerged from a pile that was neatly stacked on a shelf in the corner, "Here you go," she said, "Just sign here and here," she pointed where he needed to put his signature.

"Will that be all?" he asked.

"Yes," came the reply, "have a nice day, and if you are ever in need of company, you can always owl me!"

Draco smiled as he left the office; it was typical of all the single- and some married- women to drop hints of their availability. He quickly made his way to the Floo Network Portal and calmly waited for one of the many fire places to show that they were free. A few moments later, someone walked out of the green flames and when Draco saw who it was, he involuntarily grimaced. With his hair combed in an old fashioned style, Ronald Weasley seemed to be waiting for someone at the portal he had just come out of, seconds later, a second person came out, it was Granger. Draco's breath caught in his throat, he hadn't seen her since the war and she had changed so much in those eight years; her hair, which she had done in a French braid, was not as bushy as it was in the past. The white blouse and black pencil skirt she wore would have looked standard to anyone else but to Draco, she looked stunning, her face had a fresh, happy look about it and she seemed to be laughing at something that Weasley had said as he took her hand. As Draco walked towards the empty fire-place, they met halfway and Draco noticed Weasley stiffen, his grip on Hermione's hand had tightened too.

"Weasley," he said as he nodded his head towards them as if to acknowledge their presence, "Granger."

"Malfoy," Weasley said through gritted teeth.

"Goodmorning Malfoy," Hermione replied with a small smile.

Draco looked back at them as they walked off, heaving a sigh, he took some Floo powder and threw it in the fireplace, muttering his destination, he stepped in.

Draco got home to his tiny but elegant apartment in the heart of London. "Hello Mr. Malfoy," came the voice of his housekeeper, "how was your day?"

"Not bad, Pam, the usual," came the reply, "If you're done, I'd like for you to take the rest of the day off, I want to be alone."

Pam was used to her boss' mood swings, "Yes sir," she said with a quick nod.

Draco walked across the room where a book shelf sat, opening a secret compartment behind the third row of books, he pulled out a bottle of Firewhisky and went to sit in a recliner chair. Taking long swigs from his bottle, he glanced at his watch, it was only a few minutes into midday but Draco did not care, he was still haunted by the image of Hermione 'Mudblood' Granger. He remembered almost asking her to dance with him at the Yule Ball and scoffed at the thought, as if he, Draco Malfoy, would have been caught dead with a filthy Mudblood back then. Taking another swig from his bottle, he let his thoughts wander to Weasley, how dare he be with her? She deserved better, not some sidekick who seemed to have the temper of a Blast-Ended Skrewt. He cursed Weasley under his breath, secretly wishing it was him that was holding Hermione's hand and making her laugh. He wondered what it would be like if things had been a little different, if his family had not been so blood-prejudiced, if they had nothing to do with Voldemort, if he was not so conscious about his reputation back at Hogwarts, if he had attempted to be nicer. He sighed, things obviously would have been different, the sun had long gone down and it was nearly midnight. Draco was on his fourth bottle and his mind was clearly warped; heaving himself out of the chair, he decided to go to bed and leave everything else for tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Draco took a shower and put on his best set of robes, he had decided that he would pay Hermione a visit.

Once at the ministry, Draco wove his way through the busy corridors and finally found Hermione's office in the Department of Muggle Relations. Tentatively knocking, Draco heard a soft 'come in' from the other side and he pushed the large oak door open. Today, Hermione had on a deep brown dress, her face had next to no make-up and her hazel eyes shone even brighter.

"Goodmorning Malfoy," she said, clearly shocked that it was him that had come in.

"Goodmorning Granger," he replied.

"So, what brings you here?" she continued, "At the department of _Muggle_ relations?"

"I supply all sorts of healing potions to Muggles don't I?" Draco replied coolly, Hermione looked slightly embarrassed that she did not think of that, Draco quickly resumed his speech, "Anyway Hermione, that's beside the point. I understand that you once founded S.P.E.W?"

"Yes... Wait! You called me Hermione." She said, clearly confused.

"It's your name is it not?"

Hermione hastily nodded, "So what about S.P.E.W? It died a premature death anyway."

"Well, what I am saying is, I can help you bring it back," Draco said, he smiled slightly when he saw Hermione's face brighten, then, as suddenly as it had lit up, it clouded over.

"What's in this for you Malfoy?" she asked suspiciously, "Why would you, Draco Malfoy want to help me, Hermione Mudblood Granger?"

"Good publicity," Draco replied simply, then, leaning forward in his chair, he asked, "So, what do you think about meeting me at lunch to discuss this even further?"

"What time?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"Let's say, 13:00hrs?"

"That would be fine," she said after a moment's consideration.

Draco smiled triumphantly as he walked out of her office, he had absolutely no clue what he was going to do next, but that did not matter, at least he got a lunch date with her.

Midday came quicker than Draco expected and an hour later, he still had no clue what he was going to say to her. From where he sat at a little cafe near the ministry building, he saw her walking out of the ministry doors, dress slightly blowing in the wind. Coming out of the cafe, he started to walk towards her, "Well now Malfoy," she said once he met up with her, "where to?"

"Follow me." He led her into Muggle London where they found an isolated little restaurant, taking the table nearest the window, they were approached by the only waiter in the place, a seedy looking teenage boy with many facial piercings.

"Nice place," Hermione said sarcastically as she scanned the place.

"Would you prefer it if we got photographed together?" Draco asked. The question came out ruder than he meant, mentally kicking himself in the shins for his comment, he silently prayed that she would not take offence. Luckily for him, Hermione simply nodded in understanding; it was true that she and Draco were bound to be photographed; she was still known to most as Gryffindor's golden princess, the brains of the Golden Trio and the brightest witch of her generation, he was Draco Malfoy, sole heir to the Malfoy fortune, sole owner of one of the biggest corporations in the world and the most desired bachelor in Britain, both magical and muggle.

"So, whatchya want fer yer lunch yeah?" the waiter asked.

"I'll just have a salad thankyou," Hermione said.

"I'll have what she's having," Draco said.

"Okay, yer gonna 'av to wait twenny minutes yeah, I'll be righ' witchya," the waiter replied as he went to attend to the only other couple in the place.

"So, about S.P.E.W," Draco started nervously, Hermione looked up from the menu that she seemed to be studying.

"I still can't believe it! Why would you want to help me after all these years Malfoy?" she said quietly, "I thought about your reason earlier and I know it's not for publicity, your reputation is already great, so wha-"

"Okay! Okay," Draco decided to get on with the truth, "you're right, I'm not interested in S.P.E.W whatsoever, I'm even surprised I got the letters to the acronym in order," he said incredulously, then, looking serious again, he said, "I don't care about the publicity either, my family already cleared their name, so there is nothing left to prove."

Hermione had a puzzled look on her face, "then why am I here Malfoy?" Draco noticed her hand twitch towards her purse, presumably for her wand.

"Look Hermione, I'm sorry I lied to you, but there was no other way I could get you to come out here."

"What do you want?" Hermione said steadily, but a hint of fear betrayed her voice."

"I want to talk to you," Draco reached for her hand and managed to catch it before she could pull away. "I've been thinking Hermione, ever since I saw you yesterday, about that night at the manor."

Hermione shuddered, "Please Malfoy, I don't want to talk about it."

"No, I know it's a very painful memory but I have to mention it. Ever since I saw you suffer that night at the manor, it tore out a new side to me, a side that I had always kept hidden because I was afraid of what I would have been forced to feel had I let that side thrive. What I'm trying to say is, Hermione, " he held her hand tighter as he sighed, "Hermione Granger, that night, I realised I was in love with you."

"Malfoy-"

"No, let me finish," he whispered hastily, "all those years, I had kept it hidden under my pride and hate...hate for Mud- Muggleborns. All those things I had done to you were some of the ways I tried to convince myself I detested you. And that night, when I saw you at the mercy of my aunt Bella, I realised how much I couldn't stand to see you hurt."

Hermione looked as though she had lost her tongue.

Draco continued, "I love you Hermione, come with me, leave Weasley and let's be together. We're made for each other."

"Malfoy I can't," Hermione whispered, tears threatened to fall from her eyes but they did not, "I'm sorry, I don't love you, it's Ron I love."

"You can leave the weasel! He doesn't deserve you, you need to be with someone who can give you all you want! You need me, I can give you everything, I can make you happy. Please Hermione, you can learn to love me!" he whispered roughly.

Hermione's face was riddled with anger by the time he was done, "How dare you," her voice was dangerously low, "how dare you say Ron doesn't deserve me! Do you know just how much he's been through? He's twice the man you'll ever be and I love him, he loves me too and that's all that matters," she smiled bitterly at him for a while before her face suddenly turned compassionate and sympathetic, "you don't get it, do you?" she asked silently, "money doesn't buy happiness, yes, it can get you a comfortable life but that's it. There will always be something missing, so Ron and I may not have much, but trust me when I say this, I have never been happier in my life." She pushed her chair back and got up to leave, throwing some muggle notes on the table, she said, "it's been nice seeing you again Malfoy, but I need to go, I have some work to do." And with that, she left.

Draco put some money on the table and walked out of the little restaurant seeing only red. He was angry at the world, angry Ron, angry at Hermione for loving Ron so much and most of all, angry at himself for opening his heart to her. He felt stupid and humiliated, but yet, his feelings had not changed, which made him even angrier. Draco had never felt so helpless in his life, all his life, he had always known what to do next, a true Slytherin always had an extra card up his sleeve, always had a plan B. But today, he had no clue. Blindly walking into an alley, he thought of the only place he could think of and turned on the spot.

It was nearly 18:00hrs and Draco was already on his sixth Firewhisky. Lucky for him that night, Three Broomsticks was not as crowded as it usually was. He noticed with slightly blurred vision that Madam Rosmerta was coming to his table, she seemed to have given up dyeing her hair as it was now all brown.

"Mr Malfoy, I think you've had enough," she said in a low voice.

"What do you mean I've had enough?" Draco's words were slurred, "Am I not giving you more money the more I drink? Now sod off and go get me another bottle."

Rosmerta simply sighed and left to go and get another bottle.

Out if the corner of his eye, Draco saw the door open and in walked the Golden Trio and the Weaslette. The Weaslette looked wider than usual and Draco deduced that she might have been pregnant. Anger flashed through his eyes as he saw Hermione and Ron holding hands. What the hell were they even doing all the way out here, wasn't Hogsmeade miles away from London?

Draco noticed all their faces cloud over at his sight, mustering all the strength he had left, he shakily got up and started towards the door.

"No no," he slurred, "no need to leave cos of me, he said as he sauntered past them, "I'll juz be on my way."

Once outside, Draco decided he needed a way to release his frustration, he needed a way to release the pain and humiliation he felt. So, walking back into the pub, he walked over to where they were seated and put on his trademark smirk.

Ron was the first one to speak, "What do you want Ferret?"

"Her." Draco simply replied, motioning to Hermione, "Didn't she tell you?"

"Malfoy, not now, you're drunk," Hermione said in a tired voice, she looked like she had been crying.

"Look now Ferret," Ron was slowly becoming red in the face, "Hermione told me everything and I will not allow you to upset her any more than she already is. So, leave." His voice was struggling to remain calm. Draco smiled, he was getting there, he just needed to hold out a little more.

"Malfoy," Harry spoke for the first time, "please leave. We came here to have a good time and you're not helping anything."

"Besides," Ginny chipped in, she had a protective arm around Hermione, "she already told you she doesn't want you."

Draco looked unfazed by all of this, he simply replied, "Oh really? Cos I was getting the vibe that she only just really felt sorry for the Weasel, and couldn't leave him because no one else will have him."

Ginny gasped, Hermione let out a small whimper and Ron's wand was in Draco's face faster than anything.

"Whoa, Weasel, are you sure you know how to use that?" Draco asked in a patronising tone, "Those are not toys you know, you could seriously get hurt."

"Ron, no," Hermione put a hand gently on his shoulder, "you're above this. He's drunk, just let's go somewhere else."

"Hey!" Rosmerta's voice could be heard above the background noise, "no duelling in my place! Take it outside."

"Yeah Ron," Harry said, "you're way above all this. Just lower your wand, we could go to the Hog's Head instead."

Ron slowly lowered his wand, Draco was a little disappointed, he needed to push more buttons.

"Oh, this explains a lot now," he smirked, "I can see we have no back-bone yeah, always following Potter's orders."

Ron was shaking. "Don't listen to him Ron," Ginny said.

"Oh, even little sis has a hold on the Ronny Reins eh?" Draco sneered, "You see, Hermione needs someone like me, someone with a mind of their own, someone who can satisfy her every need. In all honesty, with you, I wouldn't be surprised if in bed, she was not satis-" Draco did not finish his sentence when he felt his face grow hot.

Draco was on the floor, with Ron on top of him, delivering punch after punch. Through all the pain, Draco drunkenly smiled, he was right, the physical pain did dull the other emotions he was feeling.

Draco was nearly fading out of consciousness when someone lifted Ron off him, Harry had Ron in a body binding curse.

"Ron!" Hermione cried, "he's drunk! You could have killed him!"

She rushed over to Draco's side and started to perform a few healing spells. Draco opened his eyes and saw something in her eyes that he had never seen before, it was sympathy and care. She cared. Draco smiled inwardly, she cared for him. It was like it was only the two of them in the whole world, then, as suddenly as it had started, it ended. Hermione was on her feet, helping him up.

"There you go Malfoy," she said coolly, "you're healed, and sober. I think it's time you left." And with that, she walked over to Ron and held his hand.

Draco sheepishly looked at them and managed a quick "I'm sorry for the trouble I have caused, I'll be on my way." And with that, he left.

A few weeks had gone by since the bar incident and there was news all over the papers on Ron and Hermione's engagement. Draco looked around at his now empty house, everything had been shrunk and packed into boxes and Draco stood in the middle of the large sitting room thinking about how much he would not miss this place. Walking over to a table and chair near the window (it was the only piece of furniture that had not been packed yet), Draco sat down and pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment. Dipping the quill in some ink, he began to write:

_Dear Hermione,_

_ By the time you will be reading this, I will already be halfway across the world. I just wanted to let you know that every word I said that day in the restaurant was true, I really meant it. I'm sorry for all the pain and trouble I caused you and there is no excuse for the way I treated you and I really am sorry._

_Though I'm not completely happy about you and Weasley's marriage, I'm happy that you're happy and I've come to accept the fact that you two will be together. For it is true what they say, 'Sometimes when you love someone, you have to let them go'._

_I wish things could have been a little different, and maybe we could have gotten to know each other. But as the fates had it, that was not going to happen. I know that you and Weasley love each other very much and I wish you all the happiness in the world._

_I will never forget you, and though I still love you, I only hope that one day I can find someone who will be able to replace those feelings._

_All the best in your life and my apologies to what I did to Weasley that night in Hogsmeade, it was inappropriate and it was not my place to things like that._

_I hope we will be able to meet again in future._

_All my love,_

_D.M._

With that, he rolled up the piece parchment and attached it to the dark owl that was waiting by the window. He watched as the owl flew out until it was only a dark little spot in the horizon before turning towards the fireplace. Getting a handful of Floo powder, he threw it in before yelling, "Xiongwei Palace, Shanghai, China."

And in a gulf of green flames, he was gone.


End file.
